


Come Here

by annabethkins



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hurt Sokka, Implied Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sad with a Happy Ending, Sick Character, Sick Sokka, Sokka is a good brother, Zukka bc i love them ???, cute???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24910582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabethkins/pseuds/annabethkins
Summary: Sokka is having time coming to term with his emotions and one day he finally breaks, however, an unexpected friend is there to comfort him.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 375





	Come Here

**Author's Note:**

> the way i literally rushed this and it's 5 am lol I know it's probably rough but I'm here to deliver lol pls enjoy ok bye bye.

It had been a rough couple of days for Katara and Sokka given the fact that it was the anniversary of the raid; the anniversary of their mom’s death. As per usual Katara was taking it pretty hard as she did on a daily basis, but her emotions were 10x stronger. She spent most of the week alone, crying in her tent. Or she’d go out and look upon the water and cry there for ya know, a change in scenery. 

The gang never really tried to approach her because they knew she was better off being alone. The only people who talked to her was Sokka (of course) and occasionally Aang to give her a hug. She tried to still help Aang with water bending but she got so little sleep throughout the weal she’d end up passing out and need Zuko to carry her back to the tent. 

Sokka was really concerned about her. He watched her sleep often, given the fact that she was prone to having nightmares this time of the year. He made sure she was safe, he protected her; he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

However, he lacked taking care of himself. Zuko was always around to check on Sokka after Katara had a fit, he knew Sokka was hurting too. But alas, Sokka would brush it off and tell Zuko that he was okay and Katara was more important. 

Franky, it hurt Zuko to watch. He could see the tears welling in Sokka’s eyes whenever they brought up his mother this week, or how quiet he would get at nights, probably because he was thinking of her. Sure Katara was always the topic of conversation when it pertained to their mom’s death but, she was Sokka’s mother too and sometimes the gang seemed to forget that. 

However, one night, Sokka wasn’t doing well at all. Katara didn’t eat dinner even though Sokka insisted, but she wouldn’t budge. She just wallowed in her depression inside her tent while Sokka just rubbed her back. It made her cry, again. He couldn’t stand watching his baby sister like this any longer but he didn’t know what to do because he himself felt like utter shit.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to sob, actually. He’s been waiting all week to do so, but if Katara even saw a single tear trickle down his face, she would feel so much worse and he didn’t want to put her through that. He had to be strong, he had to be strong, he had to be strong. 

Eventually, Katara’s crying stopped and she fell asleep. Sokka knew she was actually asleep because her snores were extremely loud. He smiled to himself, knowing she at least got a little rest. Once he left her tent everyone else seemed to be asleep so he decided it was probably good for him to try to get some rest too. He soon regretted it.

Sokka didn’t know how much time had passed but the next time he regained consciousness he was screaming bloody murder, waking everyone up. His face and body was drenched in sweat as well as his sleeping bag, but he had no concern for that, he just kept screaming. 

Zuko was the first to barge into his tent, expecting some kind of danger, but all he was met with was a very shaken up Sokka. His face immediately dropped when he saw the panic in his friend’s face, as well as the tear stains, trickling down his cheek. Soon Aang and Toph were in the tent, both still looking extremely tired, unlike Zuko. 

“Sokka, why are you screaming in the middle of the night?” Toph asked, sounding harsher then she intended. 

“Yeah is everything alright?” Aang asked. 

Sokka wanted to start crying right there and then, but something inside of him told him not to. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t look weak. But he was trembling so bad, he had so much hurt inside of him. Plus, he was starting to feel sick. Sick to the point where he was about to throw up. He swallowed thickly. 

“I think I need some air.” He declared before stumbling out of his tent. Aang and Toph were ready to go after him but Zuko stopped them with his arm. 

“I’ll handle this, you guys go back to sleep.” He told them. They were hesitant at first, given the fact that they’ve known Sokka longer and were super concerned, but were still extremely tired nonetheless, so they agreed and went back to sleep.

Zuko approached Sokka who had been in a vacant part of their campsite, doubled over and whimpering in pain. Zuko knew he was throwing up, or at least about to, but he wasn’t scared to approach him. Once he got close to his friend, he put a hand on his back, letting him know he was there. At first, Sokka felt nervous, but he was too focused on vomiting to tell Zuko to leave. 

It took a few minutes for anything to come up, it was all just wet coughs and tears coming out until finally, everything came up. Zuko never left, he only rubbed his back and reassured Sokka that it’d be okay. Eventually, Sokka couldn’t handle standing anymore and collapsed to the floor in defeat, Zuko doing the same. It was quiet for a moment, Zuko felt kinda awkward and Sokka just felt tired.

“Uhhh are you okay?” Zuko managed to say. Sokka glared into his eyes.

“What does it look like, genius?” He said, looking back at the floor. Zuko rolled his eyes for a second, but then focused his attention back on Sokka. 

“Sokka seriously, are you okay?” Sokka was quiet for a moment. His eyes began to water and his heart stung. 

“Dontcrydontcrydontcrydontcrydontcry,” He thought to himself but it was pointless, the tears were flowing by now. 

“Come here…” Zuko said softly, opening his arms. And with that, Sokka caved in and started to cry in Zuko’s chest. 

Zuko didn’t really know what to do, but he tried to mimic everything that he wished someone would do for him whenever he was super upset. He rubbed his back and let him cry, he didn’t shush him or try to convince him that he was fine, he just offered his arms and stayed quiet. He also put his chin on Sokka’s head and played around in his hair, which always seemed super calming. Soon enough Sokka had no more tears to cry but remained in Zuko’s arms. 

“I’m sorry for waking you up tonight,” Sokka whined, feeling extremely guilty. Zuko shook his head. 

“No Sokka you’re fine. I was up anyway.” Zuko told him. Sokka paused. He broke out of the hug.

“Wait--have you been up this entire time.” Zuko didn’t say anything. “Are you okay? Were you thinking about your mom again? I should have known I should’ve checked before I went to sleep-”

“Sokka stop,” Zuko said. “This is your problem. You always think about everyone else and never yourself. I’m fine, I promise. I just...I just wasn’t tired that’s all.” 

Zuko was lying of course, but he spared the truth for Sokka’s sake. 

“Okay, okay,” Sokka told him. “But I still think you should go to sleep.” Zuko grabbed Sokka’s hand. 

“No no no, I wanna make sure you’re okay. You should get to sleep.” Zuko told him. 

“I don’t know.” Sokka started. “I don’t want to have another nightmare.” Zuko frowned at him. 

“What if I came in your tent with you,” Zuko said awkwardly. “I can just, ya know, sleep next to you, and then if you have another nightmare I’ll be there.” 

At first, Sokka thought Zuko was pranking him, but by the look in his eyes, he could tell he was being serious. His body relaxed, he liked the idea. Something about it felt...nice. So, Sokka nodded in agreement. Zuko then got up, grabbing the other boy’s hands and gliding him back to the tent. 

He helped Sokka get down and made sure he was no longer feeling sick, but rather comfortable enough to sleep. They laid down facing each other and Zuko watched him until he knew Sokka was unconscious again. He cared for Sokka, more than he expected to. And though he was kinda tired and uncomfortable not sleeping in his own tent, he would never leave him.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed that i'll write more stories probably. leave kudos and comments they make me happy :) ok bye loves


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